Liberty Profile picture
Mar 21 7 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING

The Met Police has dropped a Community Protection Notice criminalising begging and entering a shop "without a valid reason" after our client started legal action.

This u-turn sends a message to police and councils to stop criminalising poverty
libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/police-d…
Some public bodies like the police, community support officers and local authorities can issue Community Protection Notices (CPNs) that require a person to either do or not do certain things.

It is a criminal offence not to follow a CPN.
Our client, who is anonymous, was given a CPN in October 2021 which prevented various activities including begging and even going into a shop “without a valid reason”.

She was then forced to defend herself against criminal charges for allegedly breaching the CPN.
Liberty challenged the Met’s decision to issue the CPN in the first place, arguing it was unlawful because its terms were copied and pasted rather than relating specifically to our client, officers didn’t give adequate warning to her before issuing the CPN, and gave no evidence.
A matter of days before the court hearing, the Met contacted our client to say it had revoked the CPN.
District Judge Laws said:

"Clearly these are draconian provisions which must be applied with a degree of humanity and proportionality. The [Met] will no doubt think carefully before imposing another notice in similar terms, which seem to me rather lurid and wide ranging."
We've worked with outreach organisations to produce and distribute legal advice cards for people hit with CPNs linked to homelessness.

Get in touch if you or someone you know needs advice:

📧advice (at) liberty human rights (dot) org (dot) uk
📲0207 378 3679 COMMUNITY PROTECTION NOTICES – KNOW YOUR RIGHTS Some publiHOW TO CHALLENGE A CPN You must appeal a CPN to the Magistra

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More from @libertyhq

Mar 21
🚨The #PolicingBill is back TOMORROW🚨

Protest isn't a gift from the State - it's OUR RIGHT

But Gov wants to criminalise noisy protests

Noise is at the heart of protest

The House of Lords must continue to stand up for protest rights + reject this plan
Protest is a core pillar of our democracy, but the #PolicingBill risks criminalising people who take to the streets for a cause they believe in, from racial justice campaigners to people trying to save their local library.
Back in Jan the House of Lords removed some of the worst anti-protest measures from the #PolicingBill, but the Government has reinserted police powers to place noise-based conditions on demonstrations.
Read 9 tweets
Mar 9
The consultation on Gov's 'overhaul' of the #HumanRightsAct closed yesterday (if you need easy read or audio, deadline is 19 April).

A quick look around shows:

1⃣lots of love for the HRA

2⃣a clear rejection of Gov's attempts to weaken rights to make itself untouchable

⬇️⬇️⬇️
First up, our own response...

"Our starting point is that we dispute the premise underlying the exercise."

It doesn't get any better for Gov from there tbh
A superb thread from @JUSTICEhq (consultation response at the end)

"The HRA is a well-crafted, delicately balanced piece of legislation... the Government’s Consultation lacks any evidential basis to support reforms"
Read 26 tweets
Mar 8
BREAKING

On the day the Government's #HumanRightsAct consultation closes, new polling shows the public reject Gov's agenda of attempting to make itself untouchable. A graphic showing new polling carried out by Liberty on top A graphic displaying text on top of an image of the Prime Mi
The Government wants to rip up our #HumanRightsAct.

The only people who benefit from weakening rights are those in power - and that's a Gov that's also:

🔘making it harder to challenge it in court
🔘criminalising protest
🔘stopping people voting
🔘dodging scrutiny from MPs
Gov's agenda: stop people challenging it and rewrite the rules to make itself untouchable.

But new polling from @nfp_Research shows:

81% of people say governments must not make themselves unaccountable

80% say people should be able to stand up to power and challenge injustice
Read 5 tweets
Mar 7
The Government's consultation on its proposed 'overhaul' of our #HumanRightsAct closes tomorrow.

This isn’t a plan to improve the system.

It’s an attempt to weaken everyone's human rights and hide from accountability for their actions.

⬇️EXPLAINER🧵 libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/explaine…
THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT

In a functioning democracy, people must be able to hold the powerful to account.

The #HumanRightsAct enables everyone in the UK to do just that and stand up for our rights when public authorities – like Gov + local councils – fall short.
The #HumanRightsAct protects us from misuse of power no matter who we are.

And it's helped bring a culture of respecting human rights into hospitals, schools, care homes, and housing associations – changing the way thousands of people are treated and supported.
Read 30 tweets
Jan 12
On Monday the House of Lords can bin some of the most dangerous and discriminatory anti-protest measures in Gov's #PolicingBill.

🗳️Liberty's voting guide for Peers⬇️
The #PolicingBill allows police to put conditions on a protest if they reasonably believe the noise generated may seriously disrupt an organisation in the area or may "have a significant and relevant impact on persons in the vicinity".

This has to go. Vote to remove police ability to impose noise-based conditio
Noise is - LITERALLY - how we make our voices heard.
Read 47 tweets
Jan 10
TODAY

The House of Lords is voting on Part 10 of the #PolicingBill that will increase discrimination against Black men.

Liberty and @JENGbA are calling on Peers to stand up for equality and justice and block these measures. libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/policing…
@JENGbA New civil orders and police powers in the #PolicingBill will entrench discredited #JointEnterprise

Described by the Supreme Court as “a wrong turn”, joint enterprise is a proven route to injustice.
@JENGbA #JointEnterprise has led to bystanders being convicted of the most serious crimes, and is often used to criminalise Black men, young people and women.

Read more here: jointenterprise.co
Read 6 tweets

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